


Lessons in Letting Go

by cjmarlowe



Category: Breakfast with Scot (2007)
Genre: Canon Queer Character, First Date, Gen, Other, Yuletide 2010, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-26
Updated: 2010-12-26
Packaged: 2017-10-14 03:12:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjmarlowe/pseuds/cjmarlowe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Scot's date shows up on their doorstep, dressed in peacoat and scarf with a halo of dark curls, Sam isn't sure whether Bryce is a boy or a girl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lessons in Letting Go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ainsley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ainsley/gifts).



When Scot's date shows up on their doorstep, dressed in peacoat and scarf with a halo of dark curls, Sam isn't sure whether Bryce is a boy or a girl. Which he supposes is fair, since Bryce's parents would probably have had the same problem with Scot, at first glance. But if he's being honest, aside from wanting to know _absolutely everything there is to know_ about Scot's life, it's not really any of his business.

"Is Scot ready?" Bryce asks, in a soft and obviously nervous voice.

Sam has very strict instructions from Scot about how to handle Bryce's arrival. First he's supposed to invite Bryce to come in and sit down, then he's supposed to offer a refreshing beverage, and only _then_ , when Scot's just fashionably late but not _insultingly_ late, will Scot come downstairs to meet them.

But the entire plan goes out the window when Eric immediately calls upstairs, "Scot, your date's here!" Sam shoots him a look over his shoulder, but Eric just grins unapologetically and rests his hand on the banister as he waits.

Scot appears at the top of the stairs a few moments later. "That's _not_ how it's supposed to _go_ ," he says.

He's already ready to go, down to the buttoned coat and carefully chosen hat, but that's obviously not the _point_. It's too late now, though. Bryce is already peeking past Sam and giving a little wave up the stairs.

"Hi, Scot."

"Hi, Bryce," says Scot, and bites his lip and then scurries down the rest of the stairs to push past Sam at the door.

Sam doesn't put up much of a fight, partly because—as much as he wants to know about this Bryce person—he wasn't looking forward to the awkward small talk part of the evening, and partly because when Scot's got his mind set on something it's pretty useless to stand in his way. Eric brushes a bit of glitter off the banister in Scot's wake—Sam is too used to it to even ask—then joins them by the door where Bryce finally gets a good look at him.

"You're Eric McNally!" Bryce blurts out.

"Yeah," says Scot, and looks down, and he's _just_ at that age where it's really not cool for a parent to steal your thunder, especially on a first date.

It's out of years of habit that Sam waits for Eric to say something like he's just visiting, or that he's Sam's brother, both of which are implausible at best—especially considering how much Scot's probably already shared with this Bryce kid. It's not fair to Eric that he still half expects it, but then it wasn't fair to him that there were enough years when Eric really would have, so it probably all comes out in the balance.

Instead of ducking and covering, Eric reaches forward with one hand and rests the other on the small of Sam's back, comfortable and unflinching. "Nice to meet you, Bryce," he says, shaking Bryce's hand firmly. "You're going to have Scot home by eleven, right?"

"We agreed on midnight," mumbles Scot into his shoes.

"Midnight," confirms Sam, because there had indeed been a lengthy negotiation on the subject.

"But you need to be inside with your coat off by midnight," Eric adds, "not dashing up the walk at the last minute."

"Can we go now?" says Scot, tugging at his hat. He's wearing the ring Sam and Eric gave him for his thirteenth birthday, and makes Sam smile to see it on him tonight.

"I promise to take good care of him," says Bryce, then holds out a hand for Scot to take. Which he does, firmly, before giving it a tug right out the door and down the sidewalk before either Sam or Eric have a chance to embarrass him any further. It's probably a good call, because Sam is about ninety percent certain Eric absolutely would have given just a couple more minutes; he _knows_ that fond and mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Scot and Bryce talk in hushed voices as they leave for their date, but Sam can still overhear bits and piece of the conversation.

"You didn't tell me Eric McNally was your dad!" says Bryce, hushed and incredulous. "My brother still has a poster of him on his wall."

"Eric _and Sam_ take care of me," says Scot, and then they're too far up the sidewalk to be heard anymore.

Not that Sam feels like he needs to hear any more than that. He's already smiling again as he closes the door, even before both of Eric's arms come around his waist.

"They grow up so fast," Eric murmurs, as if they've been watching Scot grow up since birth and not just for a couple of years.

He lets go once Sam bolts the door so Sam can turn around, but doesn't let him get away without a quick kiss on the lips. There's a dusting of glitter on Sam's shirt when Eric steps away, but he doesn't even try to brush it off onto the floor. After more than two years with Scot, they're both all too aware that you can never get the stuff off entirely. Never.

"I'll get you a beer to dull the pain," he says, and while Eric laughs he takes a page from Bryce's playbook and reaches out to lace their fingers together. Eric looks surprised, but he doesn't pull his hand away.

"So is Bryce—?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think we should—?"

"Does it really matter?" says Sam. "Scot likes him. Her. If he wants to talk about it with us, he will."

"Will he?" says Eric. "He's a teenager now. Teenagers get weird and broody."

"Scot's always been weird and broody," says Sam, "and he talks to us about what's important. We've just got to trust him on that."

For all that Scot continues to surprise them every day, and for all that they still struggle to understand him sometimes, one thing Sam's sure of is that they can trust him. Scot's a great kid.

"I still get to interrogate Bryce if they're even a minute late, though, right?"

"Absolutely," says Sam without so much as a blink of hesitation. "You can even interrogate them if they're early. It's our _job_."

"This is why I love you best," says Eric. "Let's talk tactics."


End file.
